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China Passes Law Requiring Tech Firms To Hand Over Encryption Keys (betanews.com)
Mark Wilson writes: Apple may have said that it opposes the idea of weakening encryption and providing governments with backdoors into products, but things are rather different in China. The Chinese parliament has just passed a law that requires technology companies to comply with government requests for information, including handing over encryption keys.
Under the guise of counter-terrorism, the controversial law is the Chinese government's attempt to curtail the activities of militants and political activists. China already faces criticism from around the world not only for the infamous Great Firewall of China, but also the blatant online surveillance and censorship that takes place. This latest move is one that will be view very suspiciously by foreign companies operating within China, or looking to do so.
Under the guise of counter-terrorism, the controversial law is the Chinese government's attempt to curtail the activities of militants and political activists. China already faces criticism from around the world not only for the infamous Great Firewall of China, but also the blatant online surveillance and censorship that takes place. This latest move is one that will be view very suspiciously by foreign companies operating within China, or looking to do so.
China gets.
It's kinda horrifying that we are so close to chinese draconian laws or even further advanced that we can't even complain about them. This is about to be implemented in the U.S. and in U.K. you get to stay in jail until you reveal your password.
Please stop being the UK govs role model...
Just like the USA distanced itself from eugenics (such as the mandatory sterilization of people with mental disabilities) when it got popular with the Nazis, maybe China demanding encryption keys will get some American politicians to back off of the idea.
Don't the Democrats want basically the same thing?
Wait, if the Chinese are doing it, doesn't that mean that it's an evil commie tactic that no God-fearing American would ever even suggest using?
Don't waste your vote! Vote for whoever you want, unless you live in a swing state it won't matter anyways
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If Apple wants to continue selling devices in China (which is a needed market for Apple, as the US market is becoming saturated), then Apple will comply with the laws of China.
It's as simple as that.
Give Chinese consumers crippleware products so no company cares enough to protect its Chinese sold IP.
Yet another reason for companies to make sure they don't have the keys to their users' data. You can't provide what you provably never had.
Of course, if governments require vendors to escrow the keys that strategy won't work. But it doesn't appear that China has gone that far.
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That is a fucking atrocious idea. Giving into China here nullifies their "we don't play that" stance. Uncle Sam will know that they DO play that way; if you threaten Apple's profits. Once that door is open Uncle Sam will get what he wants.
This isn't a vague slippery slope fallacy either. This is a direct consequence.
Sanders voted against CISA while Clinton wants a "Manhattan Project" where Google, Apple, and MS give the government your keys "voluntarily".
If Apple wants to continue selling devices in China (which is a needed market for Apple, as the US market is becoming saturated), then Apple will comply with the laws of China.
Which is why it is better for all tech firms to not have access to encryption keys. End to end encryption needs to be the standard, so there are no keys to turn over.
...The law establishes basic principles for counter-terrorism work and strengthens measures of prevention, handling, punishment as well as international cooperation, he said.
Under the new bill, telecom operators and internet service providers are required to provide technical support and assistance, including decryption, to police and national security authorities in prevention and investigation of terrorist activities.
They should also prevent dissemination of information on terrorism and extremism.
Li Shouwei of the National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee legislative affairs commission, said the rule accorded with the actual work needed to fight terrorism and was basically the same as other major countries.
"The clause reflects lessons China has learned from other countries and is a result of wide solicitation of public opinion," he added.
"(It) will not affect companies' normal business nor install backdoors to infringe intellectual property rights, or ... citizens freedom of speech on the internet and their religious freedom," Li said.
China's national security law adopted in July also requires Internet and information technology, infrastructure, information systems and data in key sectors to be "secure and controllable"....
Apple should comply with this request, it is actually a very good thing for the US (and terrible for china). By creating this backdoor, China is painting a huge target on the server(s) that store these 'master keys'. Every foreign intelligence agency in the world will want in and they will get in. Someone will forget to check a password buffer when coding it, or someone with an admin password will be presented with embarrassing pictures, and then wham! every western Intel agency will have access to the phone data for all the important people in China. This data will need to be used by so many people that it should be trivial to compromise someone with a master key.
Apple will then be complying with China's laws, and can keep raking in the bucks by selling them easy to compromise phones and personal gadgetry. Nothing requires them to then cripple their phones in other parts of the world, which they will presumably not do so they can claim that they have a secure platform as a sales point every else. Win Win.
Of course, the person getting fucked is the average Chinese person. They are being ass-reamed even harder by the government stooges, but perhaps this will be the thing that finally pisses the populace off enough to finally rise up and start hanging all the communist stooges running the country.
I bet the NSA is having a massive Christmas circle jerk over this one. Their job just became a million times easier...
HA! I just wasted some of your bandwidth with a frivolous sig!
It's quite interesting actually because now we get to see what sort of price Apple places upon its principles and core values.
An Apple's core is the part you throw out.
Don't waste your vote! Vote for whoever you want, unless you live in a swing state it won't matter anyways